


moments of gold

by rainbowysl



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: First Kiss, Karaoke, M/M, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 09:26:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13455339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowysl/pseuds/rainbowysl
Summary: It's Nate's idea, because of course it is.





	moments of gold

**Author's Note:**

> [shows up to new year's 3 weeks late with a fic and starbucks]
> 
> If you got here by Googling yourself please turn around and leave the way you came in and save us both a lot of embarrassment.
> 
> title from It's All Coming Back to Me Now by Celine Dion because tyson barrie is a huge loser

It’s Nate’s idea, because of course it is, of course he’d planned for this, of course he’d booked tables in one of Denver’s best clubs weeks in advance to celebrate the new year.

“Figured I’d be celebrating a win or drowning my sorrows after a loss, but I’d be getting sloshed either way.”

Gabe rolls his eyes affectionately as the locker room breaks into cheers and chirps at Nate planning ahead for once. He retaliates by throwing a wad of sock tape that hits Nietsy square between the eyes and the locker room descends into absolute chaos. The boys are riding high after an absolutely stellar win, and they deserve to get a little rowdy, so Gabe puts on his best long-suffering-team-mom look but laughs along when EJ sprays Nemeth right in the face with a water bottle, and when Kerfy gets Josty in a chokehold just to ruffle his hair.

Eventually they all calm down enough to get dressed and head out and Nate calls out the necessary information for the reservation, telling the boys to meet there about two hours before midnight, while Gabe ropes him and some of the other guys into cleaning up. The team deserves to celebrate but the janitors don’t deserve the absolute disaster they’ve left in the locker room. He and Nate head out to the parking garage together afterward and Gabe pulls out his phone to check his messages.

There’s a voicemail from his mom that he makes a mental note to check later, a generic email from his agent wishing him a happy new year, and two texts from Tyson.

_great fuckin win eh? wish i could have been there  
that message took 5 minutes to type send help_

Gabe grins.

“What’re you smiling at?” Nate grabs for his phone, ready to chirp the life out of him.

Gabe holds it out of reach. “It’s just Tys. He’s whining about his hand.” He’s still smiling when he goes to type a message back. Nate mumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like “old married couple.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Tell Tys to stop being a little bitch.”

 _Nate says to stop being a little bitch his words not mine_ , Gabe types out.

Nate’s phone rings almost immediately and Gabe cracks up when he hears Tyson’s voice shouting at Nate through the speaker. He waves as he reaches his car and honks on his way out. Nate’s laughing into the phone, apparently having calmed Tyson down enough for them to get back to chirping rather than shouting.  


\---

When Gabe gets home he eats leftovers out of his fridge, still in his suit that he’d thrown on to leave the rink. His phone buzzes as he’s shoving a forkful of potato into his mouth. It’s from Tyson again.

_you’re going tonight right??_

Gabe smiles and types out a response. _Yeah. You’re going? Are you even allowed to drink_

_went off painkillers yesterday (Smiling Face With Sunglasses )_

_Just make sure you don’t break your other hand_

_fuck off landesnerd_

_:P Later, Tys_

Gabe rinses his dishes in the sink and heads upstairs for a real shower. He’d rinsed off at the rink to get the uniform and pad stink off but just feels the need to freshen up more. He doesn’t think a bunch of hockey players would give him shit if he didn’t, but he’d like to give his team as little opportunity to chirp as he can. 

After his shower, he pulls on some black jeans and a blue sweater that he knows brings out his eyes. He’s doing his hair in the mirror when he catches himself. Is he primping? He’s primping. He’s always paid attention to his appearance, but this is definitely primping. 

He grabs his phone from the bed where he’d tossed it before his shower and calls an Uber. There’s a couple texts, and he checks them while he heads downstairs to grab his keys and wallet and wait for the Uber. Most of them are from the team group chat and, from the looks of things, some of the boys have already started celebrating. There’s also a couple texts from Tyson that were sent when Gabe was in the shower.

_how is it you’re younger than me n still type like a grandpa  
i’ll put emojis on your phone if it kills me_

Gabe’s still smiling as he climbs into the Uber and sets off toward the club. 

\---

The boys have already got the celebration well underway by the time Gabe gets there. Most of the guys have brought their significant others or friends, so their corner of the bar is packed even fuller than the rest of the bar, which is quickly approaching capacity. There’s a stage near their tables where some employees are setting up microphones and amps near the DJ’s station.

Mikko is dancing on a table singing along very poorly with the DJ’s choice while Nate tries to pull him down. Niets and Carl are trying to talk Kerfy and Josty into a drunken game of truth or dare, with emphasis on dare. EJ makes eye contact with Gabe over them and rolls his eyes. Sam, apparently a clingy, chatty drunk, is leaning on Tyson’s shoulder, babbling away about something or other while Tyson nods and “mhmm’s” along, looking fondly at the rookie. Tyson’s arm is draped loosely across the back of the booth behind Sam. An angry heat that Gabe absolutely refuses to analyze curls in the pit of his stomach at the sight.

Tyson catches Gabe’s eye and grins. Gabe gives him a small wave. Sam keeps right on babbling away. Tyson makes a motion with his hand that clearly means _get me a drink?_ Gabe nods and heads over to the bar. He gets Tyson the fruitiest drink they serve and a beer for himself and makes his way to the booth Tyson was sitting in. Sam has disappeared from the booth in the time it took Gabe to get the drinks and has joined Mikko on the table. EJ has joined Nate in trying, quite unsuccessfully, to get them down.

Gabe slides into the empty spot next to Tyson that Sam left behind and puts Tyson’s drink in front of him. Tyson says something that sounds like “Thanks, babe” but could also be “Thanks, Gabe” and Gabe manages not to overthink it only because it’s too loud in here to think.

Tyson lifts his hand to grab his drink only to discover that he can’t grip the glass with his cast-wrapped hand. He pouts at his glass. And then looks at Gabe. And then pouts some more. 

“Oh my god,” Gabe says, as it finally clicks what Tyson wants. “You have an entire other hand, you actual child.”

Tyson, impossibly, pouts even harder.

“Jesus Christ,” Gabe mumbles, but he picks up the glass anyway and lifts it so that Tyson can reach the tiny little straws the bartender had put in the drink. Tyson takes them between his teeth and grins at Gabe around the straw. The angry heat in Gabe’s stomach has uncurled and turned considerably less angry, settling pleasantly, low in his belly.

“Ugh, get a room,” Nate sits down heavily on Tyson’s other side. 

Tyson turns his head, bringing the straws with him, so that they point at Nate and move every time he speaks.

“Don’t you have a rookie to get off a table?” Tyson asks.

“Nah,” Nate says, as EJ settles in beside Gabe. “Once Barbs got up there it was a lost cause.”

They all turn to see Mark on the table with Mikko and Sam. They’re all shout-singing something that sounds like a very bad rendition of Eminem.

Tyson pulls the straws from his mouth with his uninjured hand and grabs his glass, which Gabe had forgotten he’d been holding, with the same hand. EJ and Nate sitting down has pushed Gabe and Tyson closer together, and now their thighs are flush against each other. Gabe can feel the warmth of Tyson’s body even through two layers of jeans and it takes all of his willpower not to press even closer.

EJ reaches for Gabe’s beer, and Gabe slaps his hand away. “I paid good money for this, get your own.”

“You’re a professional hockey player, you cheap asshole.”

“So are you!”

“You bought one for Tyson!”

“He likes me better,” Tyson interjects.

Nate mumbles something that makes Tyson elbow him in the ribs and turn a deep shade of red. EJ huffs and heads up to the bar. Tyson looks like he’s ready to start arguing with Nate, but before he can, one of the bar employees steps up to the microphone on stage.

“Alright everyone, it’s just under an hour until midnight. And that means karaoke until we run out of people or until I absolutely can’t take it anymore, whichever comes first.” The people in the bar cheer. “Sign up yourself or your drunkest friend up here by the stage and we’ll call your name when it’s your turn. Sing responsibly.” There’s a flurry of activity as groups of people, including their teammates, hurry to put their names down. Even Mikko, Sam, and Barbs scramble down from the table to join the crowd. Nate groans.

“I hate karaoke.”

“Didn’t you pick this bar?” Tyson asks, taking a long drink.

“Yeah, but I didn’t know they’d be doing _karaoke_.” There’s an emphasis of disgust on “karaoke” this time. They all watch the restless throng of people battling each other to get their names down first.

EJ slides back in next to Gabe, drink in hand. “Bets on which of our guys is gonna embarrass themselves first?”

Gabe thinks for a moment. “I’m gonna go with Josty.”

EJ takes a drink, contemplating. “I say Tys.”

“What?” Tyson squawks. “I didn’t even sign up.”

EJ shrugs. “Just a gut feeling.”

Gabe looks at EJ, eyebrow raised. EJ winks.

“EJ what did you do,” Tyson asks. 

EJ just takes another drink and shrugs again.

“EJ!” Tyson looks horrified.

By now the commotion at the stage has died down and the same employee from before gets up to read the first name from the list. 

“Okay, first up, singing Celine Dion--good choice--we have…T-Bear?”

The team erupts around them. Tyson looks at EJ with betrayal written across his face. Gabe and Nate are trying desperately not to laugh, and failing. EJ just looks smug. He knows Tyson can never turn down a challenge. Gabe and Nate get Tyson up and out of the booth and the rest of the team pushes him toward the stage. Gabe didn’t think it was humanly possible for someone to look as red as Tyson is right now.

Tyson finally steps up to the microphone. There are murmurs of recognition throughout the crowd and a group of girls right in front of the stage that look absolutely _delighted_. 

“Before we start,” Tyson says, leaning in toward the microphone, “I’d like to let Erik Johnson know that he better watch his back.”

EJ laughs as the crowd cheers.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.”

The speakers play some piano notes that everyone in the audience clearly recognizes, because they start to cheer again. Tyson leans in to the microphone again.

_There were nights when the wind was so cold._

And oh, wow Tyson actually has a pretty nice voice. That, or Gabe has had a lot more to drink than he thought he did. The crowd is into it, and they cheer him on as he gets to the chorus.

 _When you touch me like this, and you hold me like that._ Gabe can’t look away from him. Tyson is getting into it now, holding onto the microphone as he sings.

 _There were moments of gold and there were flashes of light._ The crowd is cheering, EJ is grinning, and even Nate is getting involved. And then Tyson looks up and looks Gabe right in the eye.

 _There were nights of endless pleasure, it was more than any laws allow._ If they were in a movie, Gabe would have said that the room disappeared around them. That it was just him and Tyson and the stage. But then Tyson gets to the chorus again, and the crowd joins in this time, and Tyson is still looking at him as he sings _when you hold me like that_ again, and Gabe is painfully, acutely aware of how many people are around them. He wonders if they really looked at each other for as long as it felt like, how many people saw, if Tyson even meant to look at him that way. It’s all too overwhelming and suddenly Gabe feels like he can’t breathe.

Gabe stands up from the booth and scoots past EJ with a mumbled, “need some air.” He’s vaguely aware of eyes on him, watching him leave, but he just weaves through the crowd until he can push through the door to the outside patio. It’s too cold for many people to be out here, just a man smoking, who gives him a nod when they make eye contact, and a couple making out in the corner who don’t pay him any attention. 

He leans on the waist-height wrought iron fence surrounding the patio and lets out a shaky breath. If he’s being honest with himself, this has been building for some time. Tyson’s always been one of his best friends on the team, but lately he’d started to feel...different. Maybe it had started with that ridiculous Valentine’s Day video Lauren had roped them into last year. They’d both played it off as something awkward they’d had to do for the media team, but then written things that, at least in Gabe’s case, they’d meant. It’s built so slowly, though, that Gabe hadn’t been able to pinpoint it until just now, when Tyson had looked him in the eyes and sung about being held.

Gabe’s phone has been vibrating in his pocket since he stepped outside. He finally pulls it out and looks at the messages that have been accumulating, as he hears the smoking man head back inside, letting out the sounds of the club. There’s one from EJ ( _you okay??_ ) and a dozen from the team group chat.

**Tys**  
_what happened to gabe?_

**EJ**  
_said he needed air_

**Tys**  
_too much to drink or??_

**Josty**  
_lol been there_

**Tys**  
_quiet mini me the adults are talking_

**Josty**  
_rude_

**Nate**  
_nah you saw him he barely drank_

**Josty**  
_hes gonna miss the countdown :OOO_

**Tys**  
_tyson._

**Josty**  
_What???_

Gabe wants to say he can’t believe his team is texting each other when they’re all in the same room, but he absolutely can. There’s typing bubbles coming from more than one person, but Gabe puts his phone away as he hears the couple head inside, too. A faint “five minutes ‘til midnight!”, announced by the same bar employee as before, drifts out through the open door, before it closes and Gabe is alone. He’s starting to feel the cold now.

The door opens again, but Gabe doesn’t turn around, figuring it’s just another smoker, or another couple looking for a quiet corner. He can hear footsteps behind him until the person pulls even with him, and then Tyson is leaning against the fence with him.

“You okay?”

Gabe means to say, “yes, of course, I’m fine, go back inside.” What comes out is, “I don’t know.”

Tyson’s quiet, like he’s waiting for Gabe to continue, but he doesn’t, and Tyson doesn’t push so they stand in silence for a little while. This is a conversation that Gabe deeply does not want to have, but he knows Tyson won’t just let him wiggle out of talking, not when Gabe is so obviously bothered by something and Tyson thinks he can fix it. And isn’t that what this all boils down to?

“You just,” Gabe starts. He takes a deep breath. “You just love so hard, you know? You care so much and you take care of people and--and you try so hard to make people happy all the time, you make _me_ happy all the time, and then you looked at me like that in there, singing about being touched and held, and I couldn’t handle it if that look didn’t mean the same to you as it did to me--”

“Hey, slow down,” Tyson puts his uninjured hand on Gabe’s arm. It burns like a hot iron. “Breathe, before you pass out on me.” He squeezes. Gabe wants to die. “What are you saying, Gabe?”

Gabe takes a deep breath and then lets it out. His breath curls like a cloud in the cold air. He can’t look at Tyson when he says it, so he looks at his hands. “I like you. A lot.”

Tyson is quiet. Shit. Shit shit shit. He should never have said anything, he’s ruined everything, the entire team dynamic is gonna change, and they’re gonna trade him, send him as far away as possible, just like with Dutchy. He pushes off the railing and makes to head back inside. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I never should have--”

Tyson catches him by the arm. “You like me?”

“What?”

“You like me? Like you--you _like_ like me?”

Gabe looks at the ground like if he stares hard enough it will open up and swallow him whole. “Yes, and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make things weird, I’ll just go--”

“Gabe!” Tyson practically shouts, shutting him up. He falls silent. It’s quiet enough that he can hear the countdown begin inside. _Ten. Nine._

“Gabe look at me.” _Eight._ He does. _Seven._ Tyson is smiling. _Six._ “You’re such an idiot.” _Five._ Tyson tugs him closer by the grip he still has on his arm. _Four._ Wraps his other arm around Gabe’s waist. _Three._ Moves his hand from Gabe’s arm to cup his face. _Two._ Leans in. _One._ And kisses him.

Gabe could swear that time stops. It shouldn’t be perfect. They’re in public, Tyson has a broken hand, the aches and bruises from the game are starting to sink in, _it’s fucking freezing_ , but it’s perfect. 

It doesn’t last very long. Tyson may be a big softie, but he’s not an idiot. They’re still out in public on New Years Eve--Day, now--in the middle of downtown Denver. Tyson brushes his fingers over Gabe’s cheek and pulls back. 

“I would love,” Tyson says, “to do that again. But maybe not here, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Gabe breathes.

“My place?”

Gabe nods. Tyson runs his hand down Gabe’s arm and squeezes his hand briefly before pulling out his phone to text the group chat and then call an Uber. They head back inside and make their way through the dancing and kissing couples, passing the tables of their teammates as they head to the door. Gabe looks over briefly to see EJ absolutely beaming, and Nate pointing at him and yelling something he can’t make out. He and Tyson stand on the curb for a bit, brushing shoulders and giving each other small smiles as they wait for their car. 

Their driver doesn’t seem to recognize them when they climb in, and if he does, he doesn’t say anything, just wishes them a happy new year and asks how their night was. Gabe pulls out his phone as their car pulls away from the curb. The group chat is filled with New Years related emojis and messages, but two texts catch his eye, right under Tyson’s.

**Tys**  
_gabe’s not feelin too well, taking him home_

**Nate**  
_FINALLY_

**EJ**  
_get it, tbear_

Gabe cannot believe his teammates. Tyson knocks his knee against Gabe’s and leaves it there, and smiles softly at Gabe when he looks up. Denver flashes by outside the window and for just a second they’re the only two people on Earth.

**Author's Note:**

> i swear i went through this like 8 times but please tell me if you find typos
> 
> all my love to lili who is my biggest cheerleader every time i write
> 
> if you haven't seen the avs karaoke video you can watch it [here](https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/950866163159810048)


End file.
